. . . . .The House Household

Dayton, Adele, Christie, KarenRae, Dad, Lynette 2009

2011-11-21T12:28:00.001-07:00

2011-11-12T10:16:00.001-07:00

Christian and his new dog.

They both have nice smiles

Gary House

2011-11-12T10:08:00.001-07:00

1972 .... BYU ... Adorable.. Need I say more? Married him.

Fowler Family

2011-07-20T10:52:00.000-06:00

The kids have moved to Wenatchee, Washington. Beautiful place.. beautiful family.

Dr. Steve Fowler... FINALLY

2011-07-13T12:12:00.000-06:00

I'm posting what I just read on Melissa's site...

MELISSA WRITES ON HER BLOG:

When I first met Steve at BYU, just after his mission to Berlin, Germany, he told me wanted to be a teacher or a doctor. It didn't take long for him to settle into a pre-med course and he never looked back. When times got rough along the journey he relied on his personal inspiration that a medical profession was what the Lord wanted for him. So it's after

4 years of undergraduate studies, 4 years of medical school, and 4 years of residency training (not including the thousands of hours of studying for boards and practice) he is finally practicing as a DOCTOR

Anyone that knows Steve knows it's no surprise that he is a wonderful physician too. His patients love him and request him. He is an expert at ultrasound sports and musculoskeletal medicine. He is going to be such an asset to his new practice, Wenatchee Valley Clinic.

We attended a graduation dinner at the Gonda building of The Mayo Clinic. There were world-famous physicians, who are gods in the field of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, praising my husband. Time and time again the physicians would comment about how excellent Steve's skills and bedside manner are. I was so proud. So many times I see Steve as the guy who takes out the garbage, plays the drums and unclogs the toilets. So for me to see him in this professional light was so inspirational. I am so proud of him.

(I'm proud of me too. Being a resident and med student wife is not an easy road)

When I was a young girl, I remember making a list of "qualities I want in a husband". Near the top of the list was "Motivated". What young girl thinks about that? It probably stems back to the fact that my father is such a hard worker. I definitely hit the jackpot because Steve has worked hard his entire life. Although Medical education demands a lot of time away he always puts family first. When he's home--he's home (mentally).

Congratulations on finishing babe! The Mayo brothers are proud.

Steve finished his residency at The Mayo Clinic this week. He has worked and studied so hard to make it to this point. The kids and I couldn't be more proud of his accomplishments.

"Teasing Your Dog" You Tube Video

2011-07-13T11:46:00.000-06:00

Ultimate Dog Tease

2011-07-13T11:44:00.000-06:00

Kami the Cowgirl

2011-07-13T11:37:00.002-06:00

Whoopee Girl

2011-07-13T11:36:00.001-06:00

The lost-for-50-years original painting of the Enoch Boles' Whoopee Girl was found in an attic and unveiled. With the Whoopee Girl Dancers are my grandchildren, Macy and Kami Fowler, and Prof. John Raglan, who appraised the painting at over $100,000.00..

Bubble Kids

2011-07-13T11:27:00.000-06:00

Every night... an hour long Bubble Bath... I've never had so many wet towels.

Progressive Dinner

2011-05-15T07:49:00.005-06:00

I was planning for 8, then the progressive dinner committee asked if I cuold take 10, then, at the last minute, I mean... as they were filing in the door... there were 12. So I put 4 in the kitchen nook, sliced some chicken breasts in half, and made sure Gary and I didn't take dessert, but it was a wonderful evening, I always say.. the more the merrier... such good company and it was the first time I've used my mother's beautful English Franciscan Desert Rose dishes, given to me after Dad's funeral. Love love them.

The White Rose Mystery

2011-05-10T23:59:00.004-06:00

So pretty... The doorbell rang and nobody was there, but look what I found on my front porch last Sunday night. Someone needs to confess..... which darling neighborhood student or ward youth gave me this? We had just gotten home that afternoon from church. I spoke in Sacrament Meeting on Mother's Day. I wish I could give this pretty flower to my mother. I sure miss her. Father's Day is going to be really hard for me this year.

6 Cousins

2011-04-21T21:57:00.007-06:00

After the funeral we gathered at the ranch.. the first time all six of Dad's granddaughters have been together for 16 years..... l to r... Rebecca, Christina, Emily, Megan, Candace, Melissa.... Megan is all dressed up for The Prom that night, so her cousins gave her a group-hug-send-off. (the boy was out-a-sight!... no, really...)

he he he he

2011-03-06T19:15:00.003-07:00

Afton Call.. 18 mo.

2011-03-01T23:10:00.003-07:00

Ben Call's wife, Kristen and Cambria

2011-03-01T23:06:00.002-07:00

Kristen is living at the ranch for a while, ... she's expecting her 4th child. She is such a beauty (so is Cambria)

Magnus, Cambria and Afton

2011-03-01T23:03:00.002-07:00

My nephew Ben's kids.... (Brad's oldest)

To Kill a Mockingbird

2011-03-01T22:55:00.002-07:00

This is one of the best books ever written. I am hosting the book club this month and chose this title. Atticus Finch is such an honorable man. And there are such wonderful characters ...and quirky ones, too... I love Dill and his great line that has now become my new annoying phrase:

"... "Ya got anything that needs readin' ... cause I can read" ....

Here is Atticus with his motherless daughter, Scout.

Read it this month!

Bishop's Night at our house

2011-03-01T22:53:00.001-07:00

This is about half of the wonderful youth in our ward.

3 Jewels

2011-02-12T11:10:00.002-07:00

Cranberry Glass

2011-02-12T11:07:00.004-07:00

Icaught the sun shining through the cranberry glass assembly on my kitchen counter....

Birthday Boy

2011-02-08T22:00:00.002-07:00

Can't believe he is this tall and this old... ice cream cakes are always his favorite.

Snowblowerman

2011-01-07T21:18:00.007-07:00

This is a posed picture, of course. I made him smile. He never smiles on purpose while snowblowing. He is always whistling some song about California or the beaches of Carolina....

Big snow weekend ... this picture is facing south, down our street in Ogden. We got a threatening notice in the mail from the city that if we didn't clear our sidewalks we'd be fined.

Gary's never happier when he gets to wake up early and clear the white stuff ... not!

Cranberry Glass & Candles

2011-01-07T21:01:00.002-07:00

They were prettier when the were lit... Gary said it looks like a Catholic altar.

Holiday Party Time

2011-01-07T20:47:00.006-07:00

On New YEARS EVE EVE (Dec. 30th) we have 16 people invited for dinner and a party. They were all the people who help Bishop House run the ward.. counselors, clerks, secretaries, assistants and wives. What a great group of people...

Get ready for the party:

Here is where half the group were seated....

The dining room was where the other half were...... There were howls of laughter coming from both areas... We got together in the great room for desserts (homemade Lion House pies) and then we went to the Christmas tree (living room), and exchanged gifts..... great night....

Cash Fowler..the little guy

2010-12-28T21:09:00.002-07:00

I would do anything for that face. Love you CASH! The best grandson I have...

Parent Teacher Conference

2010-12-22T23:02:00.005-07:00

This is about the funniest parent/conference parody I've seen. Parents like her get a reputation real fast in the faculty room .... Although I've conducted hundreds and hundreds of them with wonderful & caring folks, I have had a few zingers.... a few parents with outrageous claims and/or requests. Funny how some parents view their kids.

Sometimes... as soon as I meet the parents ... I have no more questions about the child's problems/behaviors.

I love when Mrs. Smith throws in the 504 Plan threat, and when she claims .... You make him learn too much. Oh, were it only so...

SANTA and the grandchildren

2010-12-19T21:44:00.001-07:00

They have been very very good, Santa

A Social Network Christmas

2010-12-19T21:36:00.000-07:00

David Archuleta w/ MoTab Choir for 2010 Christ...

2010-12-19T17:00:00.001-07:00

David Archuleta

2010-12-19T16:34:00.004-07:00

We had a WONDERFUL experience at the Christmas concert in Salt Lake Thursday night with the David Archuleta (uuhhh... and the Mormon Tabernacle Choir) .... Truly oustanding.

Christmas Stockings, Homemade

2010-12-13T23:55:00.004-07:00

Paul McCartney

2010-12-13T23:46:00.000-07:00

Together last year

2010-12-12T00:23:00.002-07:00

This is the last time we were all together, in Salt Lake. Wish we could do it more often.

Jesus Christ

2010-12-11T23:55:00.003-07:00

This is the reason for the season..........

We own this BEAUTIFUL painting by Simon Dewey.

My dad bought it for my husband 2 years ago.

It hangs, beautifully framed, in Gary's office.

It's my very favorite.

Photoshop ... Susan Boyle

2010-12-11T16:44:00.002-07:00

Way, WAY Better that Oprah's Favorite Things...

2010-12-09T16:33:00.010-07:00

During 4th period Friday I was taken by surprise. The Ogden City School Board President & Vice President came into my room to tell me I was chosen for the district's Empowering Excellence Through Education Award

BUT ... even better, and even more tear worthy, I got an "O Captain, My Captain" by two of my students standing on their desks! (thanks Alex and Mitchell).... and I'm not even a dead poet. Generally, the certificate says I'm doing a spiffy job... but more powerfully, my students tell my heart everyday...

HUGS to all my students, you're all too wonderful!

Per. 1

Ben, Lizzeth, Dulce, Kaleb, Diego, Allison, Jose, Jennifer, Estrella, Valerie, Ashley, Wyatt, Harley, Portia, Thomas, Janessa, Alonso, Fabian, Delfina, Juan, Dominic, Ricardo, Tatum, Amanda, Daniella, Sean, Chambrey, Sabrina, Zoe, Christian

Per. 2

Alex, Victor, Isaish, Maria, Carmen, Angelo, Vanessa, Jessica, Araceli, Pedro, Jaydin, Anthony, Elizabeth, Reynaldo, Kiersten, Judy, Connie Jo, Ubaldo, Robert, Savannah, Luis, Alexis, Isaiah

Per. 3

Reyna, Javier, Angel, Hope, Carina, Alejandro, Tim, Dariyan, Crystal, Phoenix, Michelle, Christian, Noah, Andy, Fantasia, Miles, Sara, Suddin, Denton, Marcela, Zachary, Dionisio Jesus, Shantell, Chloe, Alex, Enrique, Dylan, Drew

Per. 4

Ramon, Ashley, Mitchell, Rodolfo, Alex, Reygan, Melissa, Gilverto, Michelle, Derek, Brittany, Anhelicka, Alejandro, Lesieli, Ariana, Emmanuel, Brandon, Cindia, Marisol, Eric, Jose, Yesenia, Riley, Carlos, Esther, Benjamin, Arturo, Amanda

Eric Call

2010-12-07T22:16:00.004-07:00

Wow.. isn't my nephew a doll? Hummm... not married, at BYU, returned missionary, really smart, comes from a great family mine. If you know my brother Dayton, this is his youngest son. He's done everything right.

Just sayin'

2010-12-07T22:14:00.003-07:00

Don't like to be negative, but let it be said:
GREAT LADY ...... Scumbag Husband ....
R.I.P.

STIFF a great book

2010-12-07T21:55:00.008-07:00

Oh MY GOSH! I love this book... I can't wait to read it every night....

This is the introduction to the book: (Got me hooked)

The way I see it, being dead is not terribly far off from being on a cruise ship. Most of your time is spent lying on your back. The brain has shut down. The flesh begins to soften. Nothing much new happens, and nothing is expected of you.

If I were to take a cruise, I would prefer that it be one of those research cruises, where the passengers, while still spending much of the day lying on their backs with blank minds, also get to help out with a scientist's research project. These cruises take their passengers to unknown, unimagined places. They give them the chance to do things they would not otherwise get to do.

Death. It doesn't have to be boring.

Life's better with friends

2010-12-07T21:46:00.005-07:00

These are some great lady-friends of mine... nearby neighbors and ward buddies: Heather (l) was my gynecologist ... Tiffany, (blue) is a speech therapist, and Heather (r) is an ER physician.

I know where to go when I'm in trouble.

Christmas Sparkle

2010-12-07T21:40:00.003-07:00

This is a picture taken 5 years ago. LOVED it when they used to be able to just come up for a visit. Melissa and Kami frosting Christmas cookies.

The tree is done....

And the banister, too....

On my Bucket List....Visit Machu Picchu..Peru

2010-11-11T13:20:00.008-07:00

Elder Jordan Christensen our former lawn boy is serving a mission in Peru... these sights are in his mission....

In the 15th century, the Incan Emperor Pachacútec built a city in the clouds on the mountain known as Machu Picchu ("old mountain"). This extraordinary settlement lies halfway up the Andes Plateau, deep in the Amazon jungle and above the Urubamba River. It was probably abandoned by the Incas because of a smallpox outbreak and, after the Spanish defeated the Incan Empire, the city remained 'lost' for over three centuries.

Glinda, the Good Witch

2010-11-11T13:07:00.001-07:00

This is my Macy.. Charmingly WICKED

Kami Getting Ready to be Baptized

2010-11-01T22:35:00.005-06:00

What I like best about this picture, besides my beautiful granddaughter Kami, is that she is wearing the white dress I bought in San Francisco for Melissa. Melissa was baptised in this dress on Easter Sunday in 1986.

Halloween Sugar Cookies

2010-10-30T22:31:00.002-06:00

Trick or Treat

Getting Ready for Halloween

2010-10-29T21:16:00.002-06:00

My grandchildren...

Macy Cash Kami

and the pumpkins.

Karen Burgon & her girls....

2010-10-28T22:08:00.003-06:00

Karen Burgon (in the middle) and her daughters.... I have taken so many family group photos this summer, more than ever.... it has been fun, and a nice little money maker for my 'hobby on the side'. Karen and I were at the Relief Society Book Club tonight together, GREAT FUN... and she's my Visiting Teacher... She takes care of me...what more could a person want? We're buds for life.

Kirby Heyborne and Tate Daniels..both STARS

2010-10-21T22:17:00.003-06:00

Elder Tate Daniels is HOME... What an outstanding fellow he is....

Our ward has the BEST youth parties.. we even get a Kirby.

LDS Relief Society Sisters in Africa

2010-10-17T19:52:00.002-06:00

My friend, Dawn Kurowski Russell, and her husband are in Ghana on a mission. She sent me this picture of a Relief Society homemaking night at her humble home. Look at those bundt cakes!

A Stunner

2010-10-16T22:57:00.003-06:00

Hey, they can read...

The Fowler Family has a wonderful garden.. the only one in the neighborhood. Macy has a pepper.

Gosh she's pretty....

This is the wife of the father of the children of the corn.

All about Kami

2010-10-16T22:35:00.003-06:00

My beautiful granddaughter, Kami, will be baptized in a few months. I brought out her mother's white baptismal dress she wore in 1986. It fits.. a very stylish Polly Finders so 80s. I bought it at the outlet in San Francisco.

Our Trip to the Mighty Mississippi River

2010-10-16T22:20:00.003-06:00

The Big Muddy

What is this little river creature?

Who are these river creatures?
Father of the children of the corn.

Opening presents

2010-10-16T22:13:00.003-06:00

I bought Steve a present, too. Doesn't he look just like Edward of Twilight?

This fish was a HIT! But after a while, the little song drove us CRAZY... I noticed it was hidden by an unnamed person more than it was available...

Macy really likes these fanciful, fun, but borderline skanky dresses I buy her.

Grandpa and the girls

2010-10-16T22:06:00.003-06:00

We visited recently in Minnesota.. and the girls were all over Grandpa.

Rebecca ... Pocahontas

2010-09-25T22:42:00.004-06:00

My brother Dayton's daughter, Rebecca... can't see her front view, but she's really beautiful--- trust me, and so is Champlin Creek that runs through my folks' ranch. Love these wonderful canoe rides we've all taken. Lots of beaver, otter, blue herons, white egrets, occasionally an eagle, and once.. a mountain lion. but mostly, just frogs and small fish.

Rebeca Call, my niece

2010-09-25T22:38:00.003-06:00

Wow.. my niece is dripping with good looks... and sweetness, and she's unmarried... and 23... how could that be? Dayton's youngest daughter.

My Crosby English Saddle

2010-09-24T21:27:00.003-06:00

I bought a Crosby English saddle. I've ridden more English style than western, thanks to Mom, who sent me to a riding school when I lived in Fresno. I loved the dressage, black velvet helmet, jauphers, crop, spurs... and then posting with a ramrod straight back, then jumping over the rails.... there's nothing like it. I felt like Caroline Kennedy sittin' all tall & proud in the saddle .... I have a bridle, too, so now all I need is the horseflesh. Giddy-up...

FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL

2010-09-24T21:25:00.001-06:00

Macy owns kindergarten & Kami rules 2nd grade.

My Ancestors all Lined Up....

2010-09-22T22:44:00.002-06:00

Those who've been to my house have seen this...

The top one is the father to son line of my father's line, beginning with Cyril Call, born in 1875 in Vermont.

The bottom one is of my maternal line, beginning with Eliza Tunks Parry, born in 1823, in England.

Around the House Pics

2010-09-22T22:36:00.003-06:00

It was so beautiful after the rain, I opened the front door and took a picture.

The Deck is Done...

2010-09-22T22:28:00.004-06:00

We had our deck replaced... it was warped and wouldn't stand up to another Utah winter... It turned out great... now I can put out my bird feeders again. They've been starving ....I think they forgot how to feed themselves.

Fire on the Mountain Boys... Run Boys, Run...

2010-09-21T22:31:00.002-06:00

Massive fire in the Salt Lake Valley... Here is an eerily beautiful photograph of the fire advancing on the Oquirrh Mountain Temple. It is still 'out of control' as of tonight

Les Miserables

2010-09-12T21:40:00.003-06:00

Poor little Cosette...

Now you know why I love going to work each day... we have already spent a week on this wonderful book... last Friday was Chapter 6 ... the confrontation between the good bishop and the hardened convict, Jean Valjean. Ahhhhhh can't wait to get into my classroom and pick up the book again.

Start of a New School Year

2010-09-11T21:40:00.004-06:00

Here's where I spend my mornings..... Periods 1,2,3 & 4 English Literature, Room 220. I just bought a great new lens for my camera.. a fisheye.. or wide angle lens... it actually cost more than my Canon 50D body... geez... but I sure love it. I have taken several large family shoots this week... and they all fit into the picture without me backing way up, and the focus is grand! I made the students stand outside while I took these shots.. with my wide angle. By the way.. I have such GREAT students this year and smaller classes. YEA

Tom Cruise on Home Teaching

2010-08-26T20:31:00.002-06:00

Such a Tragedy..but Forgiveness was there

2010-08-23T21:10:00.002-06:00

2010-08-22T21:08:00.003-06:00

I snapped this of Gary tonight. It was in the Taylor's home. Their son Hunter had his farewell today at church.. he's leaving for two years as a missionary to Mexico ....the family had a dinner party afterward and Bishop House was one of the honored guests...now I ask ya, how many of you have a 59-year old hubby that is this cute?

The Hunger Games Trilogy Review

2010-08-17T11:05:00.002-06:00

I read the first 30 pages and was not happy with the theme....a survivalist kid-killing-kid story..why would I want to read it? But picked it up after my friend urged me on... and WAS HOOKED.. here's a brief review: As negative Utopias go, Suzanne Collins has created a dilly. The United States is gone. North America has become Panem, a TV-dominated dictatorship run from a city called the Capitol. The rest of Panem is divided into 12 Districts (the former 13th had the bad judgment to revolt and no longer exists). The yearly highlight in this nightmare world is the Hunger Games, a bloodthirsty reality TV show in which 24 teenagers chosen by lottery — two from each District — fight each other in a desolate environment called the ''arena.'' The winner gets a life of ease; the losers get death. The only ''unspoken rule'' is that you can't eat the dead contestants. Let's see the makers of the movie version try to get a PG-13 on this baby. Our heroine is Katniss Everdeen (lame name, cool kid), a resident of District 12, which used to be Appalachia. She lives in a desperately poor mining community called the Seam, and when her little sister's name is chosen as one of the contestants in the upcoming Hunger Games, Katniss volunteers to take her place. A gutsy decision, given the fact that District 12 hasn't produced a Hunger Games winner in 30 years or so, making them the Chicago Cubs of the postapocalypse world. Complicating her already desperate situation is her growing affection for the other District 12 contestant, a clueless baker's son named Peeta Mellark. Further complicating her situation is her sorta-crush on her 18-year-old hunting partner, Gale. Gale isn't clueless; Gale is smoldering. Says so right on page 14. The love triangle is fairly standard teen-read stuff; what 16-year-old girl wouldn't like to have two interesting guys to choose from? The rest of The Hunger Games, however, is a violent, jarring speed-rap of a novel --a la Stephen King

Mockingjay trailer

2010-08-16T19:16:00.000-06:00

The Hunger Games

2010-08-16T19:07:00.004-06:00

The Hunger Games, and Catching Fire....

The best books of the year..... bone chilling theme, terrifying, awful.... but ... I couldn't put it down... the 3rd book, Mockingjay comes out next week...

Playing Doctor

2010-08-16T12:21:00.003-06:00

taken from Melissa's blog.... and if you want to see the e-coli cake... go to: http://fowlersflowers.blogspot.com/

The girls are always creating scenarios. "Let's plan circus in our backyard", "Let's plan a parade for the neighborhood", "Let's do a fashion show". "Let's empty out all of the cabinets and make it into our play fort". All of these sentences translate to one thing "Let's make a gigantic mess and then leave it for Mommy to clean up." I have a love/hate relationship with these scenarios. I've been putting the smack down on the clean-up aspect and that has helped. I do love that they entertain and organize themselves rather than plopping down in front of the TV.

Here they are playing Doctor's Office. They created a waiting area with magazines and puzzles, a hospital bed, an X-Ray machine (turning the lights on and off in front of the mirror) and an OR. Kami did an H&P on me and gave me "antibiotics" with a real syringe. I ended up needing open heart surgery to which Macy performed. Kami diagnosed Steve with a broken leg after looking at his X-Ray.

Julia Child's Roasted Chicken - Roast Chicken Recipe

2010-08-16T10:33:00.001-06:00

I always try to cook something extra good for Sunday's dinner since Gary doesn't get home till about 4:00 pm and hasn't eaten anything since the night before. Although Bishop House says it doesn't matter what I fix since he's starving by that time....which of course defeats the purpose of making it really special... hummmm... here's a basic chicken dinner that is so good and so flavorful.. Julia Child's recipe.

2010-08-15T20:56:00.001-06:00

This is the Manti Temple where Gary and I were married 35 years ago today. LOOOOOVVVVE it!

August 15, 1975

2010-08-15T20:54:00.003-06:00

Wedding Day for me... 35 years ago... Best Day!

Double Rainbow

2010-08-11T15:53:00.001-06:00

Isn't this beautiful? I grabbed my camera and ran outside while it was still raining....and sunshining....

Christian and Ashley

2010-08-01T21:48:00.002-06:00

My son Christian brings Ashley over occasionally. I think she's a keeper.

What an adorable young lady Ashley is...

Christian

2010-08-01T21:36:00.003-06:00

Christian is on the porch lookin' all cool

Hey kids... will still love me if I bring nothing?

2010-07-29T21:21:00.003-06:00

Airline check-in people: please don't charge me $50 for this suitcase... Isn't there a Grandma's Special?

Well then for heaven's sake just don't lose it!

Kami! Macy! Cash! Grandma's Comin' ...

2010-07-29T21:03:00.003-06:00

I'm packing my suitcase, but where will I put my things? But I can't help it... when I only see you about twice a year, things add up...

Some hints about the gifts:

Mom: most original

Dad's: has to be secure in his masculinity

Schatzie: will help is teeth

Kami: Most colorful

Macy: the Sauciest

Cash: His makes me laugh the most.. think poopy noises

2010-07-26T08:43:00.002-06:00

Thoughtful article about Mormons of today written by a non-member NY financial journalist. Very interesting....

The rise of a new generation of Mormons

Published: July 9 2010 17:10 Last updated: July 9 2010 17:10

Ben McAdams is neat, he’s helpful, he’s unfailingly polite. The 35-year-old is a family man, one of six siblings and a father of three. People warm quickly to him, and talk of his modesty and strong work ethic. He neither drinks nor smokes. And when we meet for breakfast in a sparsely decorated canteen in Salt Lake City, he is wearing a dark suit and a tie.

In other words, McAdams is what the world expects of Mormons.

In other ways, however, he is less typical. Until recently, he was a fast-rising star at Davis Polk, a prestigious New York law firm – a job he won straight from Columbia University’s law school. He then worked for both Bill and Hillary Clinton, before becoming, at 35, Utah’s youngest state senator. His is the most conservative state in the US, and yet he’s a moderate Democrat who won his district – and his reputation – by helping to broker a deal over gay rights. This, mind you, from a man whose church was pilloried for bank-rolling California’s successful 2009 “Proposition 8” referendum against gay marriage. Whose faith was a headache to Mitt Romney throughout Romney’s 2008 presidential run. And whose religion has been unable to shake a reputation for “plural marriage”, officially abandoned in 1890.

Republican presidential candidate and former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney (second row left) and his wife Ann Romney speak with Senate majority leader Harry Reid

Put simply, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, or LDS for short, has an image problem; and yet, tellingly, McAdams doesn’t. And he’s part of a much bigger crowd: for the first time in its nearly two-century history – one that began, according to the founding myth, with an illiterate farmhand, Joseph Smith, being visited by an angel in western New York state – Mormons are moving from the periphery of modern American life to the very centre. From Romney’s failed tilt at the presidency to the tales of everyday polygamous families in HBO’s popular drama Big Love, Mormonism has become increasingly visible over the last generation. Where its most famous acolytes were once the Osmonds, leading lights now include politicians such as US Senate majority leader Harry Reid (a Democrat) and Romney (a Republican); Stephenie Meyer, author of the Twilight vampire saga; Glenn Beck, the popular conservative talk-show host; and self-help guru Stephen R. Covey, the author of The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People.

Those are the household names. As important are the Mormons who play central roles at the companies and institutions that make America tick: Gordon Gee, president of Ohio State University (one of the biggest in the US); David Neeleman, founder of JetBlue Airlines; J.W. (“Bill”) Marriott, head of Marriott International; and Jon Huntsman Jr, ambassador to China – to name a few. And while firm data are hard to come by, off-the-record interviews conducted for this article suggest that a generation of Mormons in their thirties and forties is accelerating the trend. For every Hill Cumorah Pageant – an annual set of performances starting this weekend in which a cast of 650 enact scenes from the Bible and Book of Mormon before massive audiences near Joseph Smith’s birthplace – there are much more mundane scenes being played out across the US: an investment banker in New York said, “I was at my final day of interviews at JPMorgan during my senior year in college. They took students from Princeton, Yale, Harvard, U-Penn and Brigham Young University [a Mormon university in Utah]. I was like, ‘what the hell? BYU?’ Then I slowly realised how many Mormons there are on Wall Street.”

‘Twilight’ author Stephenie Meyer

The CIA has its eye out for Mormons, who, people say jokingly, ace the mandatory drugs and lie-detector tests. Blue-chip corporations are recruiting, too. And at Harvard Business School, female students note ruefully that attractive male classmates are invariably associated with one of the “three Ms”: the military, the management consultancy McKinsey or Mormonism.

In that complaint lies the conundrum: much of the US still sees Mormons as weirdly strait-laced at best, cultish at worst. Yet elite institutions are embracing them. What does that fact say about the world’s youngest major religion – and about success in modern America?

. . .

Despite its public reputation, the Mormon church is the outstanding religious success story of the past hundred years. Approximately 1.7 per cent of the US population are LDS members, just slightly fewer than describe themselves as Jewish. Global membership rose from 250,000 in 1900 to one million in 1948, to 13 million today. The church is probably the world’s richest per capita religious institution, too, with assets estimated at between $25bn and $30bn. (That’s £16bn-£20bn; the Church of England’s portfolio in 2009 was £4.4bn.)

Religious sociologist Rodney Stark, at Baylor University in Texas, has predicted that the LDS will in the latter half of this century become the first new world religion since Islam – just one reason that Smith, who founded the church in the 1830s, is sometimes described as the “American Mohammed”. There is something special about Mormons, but what is it? The most fashionable theory regarding religious success at the moment comes from economics, drawing on approaches developed by the University of Chicago’s Gary Becker. Becker, a sociologist and economist, argues that American church pews are kept full – while those in Europe empty out – because the US is unencumbered by religious monopolies (such as the Church of England or the Catholic Church), leaving plenty of room for competition and choice. And indeed, one-quarter of US Mormons are first-generation converts. The US’s National Council of Churches data from 2008 rank the LDS fourth among church membership in the US, with 5.8 million members – a rise of 1.56 per cent from the previous year.

Yet growth alone doesn’t explain why some religions break into the boardroom and why some don’t. American Jews and Hindus stand out in socio-demographic surveys for their exceptional incomes and professional accomplishment, but this flows not from growing membership, rather from heavy investment in education and, in the case of Hindus, successive waves of immigration by highly trained elites such as doctors and engineers. Mormon success is different: unlike Hindu immigrants, the newest LDS members in America – converts – tend to be poorer and less educated than those with longer heritage in the church. And older generations aren’t exactly funding ever-greater achievement by younger ones: the PEW Forum on Religion in Public Life describes Mormonism as lying “roughly in the middle of other religious traditions on the socioeconomic spectrum”.

. . .

Actor Jon Heder, who starred in ‘Napoleon Dynamite’

Perhaps the most telling sign that Mormon success springs from different roots is this fact: the church’s most successful members, in terms of education and wealth, are also its most fervent. In most religions, piety and professional success mix badly. Devout Jews earn less, and tend to be less educated, than their less-orthodox brethren. American Christian evangelicals save and earn less than those from more moderate traditions.

Back at the canteen in Salt Lake City, McAdams reflects on why growing up Mormon seems to help with professional achievement in modern America. “I grew up here in Utah in a working-class family,” he tells me. “My dad had any number of jobs over the course of my childhood. Never one for too long, and with gaps in-between. He wasn’t the greatest Mormon either, drinking and smoking. So we pretty much lived pay cheque to pay cheque.” His was a childhood of limited horizons. It wasn’t the case that money and success begot more money and success. Rather, says McAdams, the thing that started to make a difference was being a missionary.

At age 19, all Mormon men are expected to spend two years on a mission. (Women serve too, but for 18 months, and at age 21.) It’s tough. They pay their own way, often saving from childhood. There is no discussion over destinations: McAdams served in São Paolo, despite learning French for four years at school. And the pre-mission training is gruelling: held at one of two dozen training centres around the world (one is in Preston, Lancashire), “you get up early and work 12 hours a day”.

At the MTC’s headquarters, in Provo, Utah, visitors are not allowed: my request for a tour gives pause to the church’s otherwise well-oiled public affairs department. It takes weeks for the OK to arrive. When I visit the campus in late February, I find a dozen redbrick buildings with views of snow-capped mountains. Inside one building, I walk down a long, empty corridor with pictures of Joseph Smith on the walls alongside framed snaps of missionaries. A young man in white robes stands, mid-baptism, waist deep in the sea; the photo is labelled “Suava, Fiji, 1999”. In another shot, two teenagers in blue overalls stand next to a bale of hay: “Seridal, Japan, ‘85”.

Here and at the other training centres, new arrivals are assigned a “companion”; they will study, eat, exercise and sleep side by side through the length of their stay. Life inside is regimented, and leaving the grounds is not allowed. Ralph Smith, the MTC’s president, says: “These young people are like most 19-year-olds, going to school and playing video games. And here they are plunked down into a situation here which is very structured, with significant demands on them to study, work hard and set goals for themselves.” He swivels round his monitor to show me a typical timetable, for a female missionary heading to Ukraine. Her day begins at 6.30am, with lights out at 10.30pm, sharp. She spends most of her time studying Ukrainian, with shorter periods for eating, exercising and religious study.

McAdams says the MTC opened his eyes, not so much to discipline as opportunity. “I found myself there alongside peers whose fathers were bishops in the church, or from wealthier families. It was an environment which wasn’t predetermined by who my parents were.”

. . .

Rodney Stark’s work shows that successful religions normally find ways to “socialise the young”, and he argues that “nothing builds more intense commitment than the act of being a missionary”. If missionary training is tough for young Mormons, the sink-or-swim experience that follows is often worse. I met with McAdams after our talk in the canteen, for a conversation outside Utah’s gold-embossed senate chamber. I wanted to discuss his time as a missionary in Brazil. “Everybody says going on a mission is the best two years of your life,” he says. “But that quote is not given by anyone in their first six months.” McAdams remembers that, despite his language training, “I still couldn’t really speak to anyone, and no one understood me. I remember dreaming in English and then waking and remembering I was in Brazil, where there was no one I could communicate with. It was incredibly frustrating.” During a missionary posting, all contact with family is banned, except for phone calls at Christmas and on Mother’s day. And reading anything other than Mormon scripture is frowned on. A senior investment banker and Mormon based in London, who was also a missionary in Brazil, recalls how alienating this could be: “I remember one of the very first lunches. All I wanted was a drink of water, and I was ashamed because I didn’t know how to say it. I literally started to break down.”

Armaund Mauss, professor emeritus of sociology and religious studies at Washington State University who specialises in the study of Mormons, has noted a “seeming paradox” in religion, in which some faiths inspire loyalty precisely because “people become committed to that for which they suffer or sacrifice”. And yet the suffering built more than loyalty; it helped McAdams and his peers develop skills eminently useful in modern-day business and government. As his fluency improved and he learnt to overcome the rejection that followed unsuccessful attempts to convince converts, McAdams embraced the experience. And when it became clear that he was competent at his work, the Church asked him to become a “trainer”, helping other missionaries develop their skills. It was a subtle process of leadership development.

Mormon and management guru Stephen Covey, who served his mission in the 1970s in London, says the time abroad changed his life. While he is careful to stress that the ideas in his books are not based on his Mormon faith but upon what he calls universal, timeless principles, he does remember particularly enjoying the chance to preach in public. “I would hold public meetings at the front of movie lines, on the top of buses, at Speakers’ Corner, or outside the Tower of London. Anywhere I could get an audience.” He returned to America to tell his father he no longer wanted to enter the family business. Instead he wanted to be a teacher, ultimately signing up to become a student at Harvard Business School, and then an academic. His mission, he says, “taught me to take responsibility early in life. It gave me my voice.”

. . .

At the time, Covey’s decision to go to Harvard Business School was unusual. But a former senior figure at the school told me that, over the past 20 years, there has been a significant rise in Mormon applicants. A more worn path for those missionaries with ambitions leads to Utah’s Brigham Young University, the Mormon equivalent of Harvard. The church subsidises entry, so LDS students pay only about $5,000 a year, one-tenth of what full-paying students at Ivy League colleges do. In some ways, BYU looks every inch an elite American institution. In others it is starkly different: the day I visit, the campus is at a standstill for a sermon from a church elder. I have come to meet Kim Smith and Jim Engebretsen, two former executives at Goldman Sachs and Lehman Brothers and now both professors at BYU’s Marriott School of Business. Smith says Mormons were rare on Wall Street when he first got a job in the early 1980s. But, as he puts it, “banks like nothing more than finding an undervalued stock. And Mormon graduates were just that: a stock which was cheaper to buy, and which over-performed.”

Engebretsen uses a different analogy: Michael Lewis’s baseball book, Moneyball. “Remember how Lewis talks about how the Oakland A’s would find a second-rounder, and bring him in the first round instead? He’d perform way better. The same is true for someone at BYU. If they think this is their chance to play in the big leagues, they are going to work really, really hard.”

They are also going to get more support, from family and community. I’d seen piles of free wedding magazines near the dining hall, and no wonder: about half of BYU students are married when they graduate. A professor who asked not to be named says: “Being married, perhaps already having a family, makes you more serious about life. It’s OK to tell your parents your grades aren’t good, but try explaining it to your spouse.”

Smith argues that church membership smooths out other hassles, too. During his time at Goldman Sachs, he was asked to move to Tokyo, “a completely alien culture”. But, he says, “I was made to feel part of the LDS community within days. Because I felt comfortable, and my family felt comfortable, and I was more effective at work.” McAdams tells a similar story, of first arriving in New York for graduate school: “My wife and I packed up a van and drove our stuff across country. When we showed up at our place, there were 15 people there to help us unload. We’d never met any of them before, but they moved us in and invited us over for dinner. We had an instant social network.” He found that this same church network also provided helpful connections, both within his own law firm and to other people in the same industry.

The networking advantage is particularly important in understanding Mormonism because the church has no professional clergy. Mormon boys enter the priesthood at age 12, taking the title of deacon. At 14 they become a “teacher”, then a full priest at 16. Each title, and each progression, comes with new responsibilities, and at each stage a smaller number become leaders among their own age-group. The system isn’t perfect. Not everyone is comfortable with the responsibility the church demands. And most senior leaders are men; the church seems to implicitly rely on a traditional, single-earner family structure to help its male leaders balance jobs, church responsibilities and families. But the result remains that most of the church’s senior leadership positions are filled by professionally successful Mormons taking time off from their careers. Perhaps the most celebrated example is Kim Clarke, who quit as dean of Harvard Business School in 2005 to become head of BYU’s campus in Idaho. His colleagues were baffled: “For them, it was like going into the wilderness,” he tells me. Later he hit upon a phrase to explain his choice: “Try to imagine you got a phone call from Moses.”

. . .

Ben McAdams believes that going on a two-year Mormon mission, at age 19, helped prepare him for professional life

In the meantime, the calls are coming from headhunters. Scott Nycum, a managing director at JPMorgan, confirmed that BYU is now seen as a top source of graduate talent: “These students are bright, mature, well-educated, share our emphasis on adhering to highest standards of integrity, have impressive work ethic and are very team-oriented,” he says. “They fit extremely well with our firm’s corporate culture.”

Focus group research conducted with corporate recruiters by BYU’s Marriott School of Business found that its MBA students, while not noted as flashy leaders, were known in particular for their “outstanding values, principles, and work ethic”. A Goldman Sachs executive, meanwhile, says the bank is hiring LDS graduates in increasing numbers, also impressed by their work ethic. The same was true, I heard anecdotally, at top-tier law firms in the US. And the CIA is reported to snap up LDS graduates for, if nothing else, their language skills.

Will any of this change perceptions of the Mormons? As the late writer and journalist Molly Ivins wrote, anti-Mormon bigotry is an “old dog that still hunts”. But more up-to-the minute cultural analysis suggests otherwise: an episode of South Park cheers the way a newly arrived LDS family wins over the local community with pleasantries and acts of kindness.

Ben McAdams thinks that while outright discrimination is rare, many successful Mormons keep their heads down at work. Still, he says, “I didn’t stand out like a sore thumb in my New York law firm until someone offered me a drink and I said ‘no thanks’.”

The majority of LDS members are now abroad. Building a professional elite in foreign cultures may prove harder than winning success in all-American environments like Wall Street. But, interestingly, LDS is especially fast-growing in countries with dynamic economies, particularly Brazil.

In a corridor of the LDS Missionary Training Centre there’s a plaque listing the dozens of languages taught to missionaries who study there – including Cebuano, Hmong and Tagalog. Next to it is a world map showing the countries in which the church operates, highlighted in bright colours. Only China and a handful of Middle-Eastern states remain grey. The last century saw a Mormon conquest in America. During our lifetimes, we may see the rest of the world follow, too.

James Crabtree is the FT’s comment editor

Back at the Ranch

2010-07-23T12:23:00.004-06:00

This was taken in the spring, now they're laden with fruit.
What's left of the 98-year old barn.

Dad surveys the final clean-up when the barn once stood...

A New Take on Old Spice...BYU Style

2010-07-22T22:01:00.000-06:00

Just had to see Old Spice #1 again...

2010-07-22T21:51:00.000-06:00

Behind the Scenes of New Spice BYU

2010-07-22T16:24:00.001-06:00

Bridgeport, Ca... in the Sierras

2010-07-22T15:02:00.001-06:00

Love California....But would rather live in Utah

2010-07-22T14:38:00.004-06:00

This is the half-mile dirt road just off HWY99E into my dad's property, just south of Red Bluff ... I always roll my windows down at this point to smell the ranch... awwwww.. can you see Dad's house at the end? squint...
I came upon this intersection in Corning, and was dumbstruck ... what was this...progressive scupture? new age art? remants of a terrible accident? Then it hit me... I was looking at an olive orchard, and this was an oversized (duh) olive with a red toothbpick through it. See.. those New Yorkers have nothing on us.
Awwww... a very common sight in the Central Valley north of Sacramento... rice fields. The Sutter Buttes loom behind.
My favorite spot ever.. some of the best memories were here. The south fork of the Yuba River at BRIDGEPORT, CA. This is the longest covered wooden brigde in the U.S. Bigfoot was just to the left of this photo..darn..
Can you see Christie Call here? I know she's in there somewhere. Gloriously warm water, clear as a bell, and you can almost see the gold nuggets shining on the shore. Gary and I used to have fun gold-panning around here.. those were the days of our gold pans and metal detector.

The Fowlers Camping...

2010-07-11T22:53:00.003-06:00

Melissa, Cash, Kami and Macy camping in the wilds of Minnesota. I know I shamelessly steal from her blog, but lately mine have been dreary: farm life, the history if the prune tree, graveyards.... hers are much more fun.
Macy and her dad.. hey, you're almost 6.. what are you doing in there?
Steve makes up his famous homemade witches' brew.. rootbeer.
My favorite picture... what a poser... and so stylish, too.. I know the fish are safe.

I'm in CA again

2010-07-08T00:17:00.003-06:00

Love this picture of my brother Brad... you can always find him in the workshop late at night...it is a workman's dream palace in there.

This is the absolutely fantastic view from my parent's house out the back windows. See Mt. Lassen? That's where I learned to ski... took the ski bus up there most almost every Saturday of my high school years ($5.00) I was a proud member of the RBUHS Ski Club. Just in front of the bob-wire fence is a creek that we can canoe in...up stream and down.

We chose beautiful pink flowers for our trip out to the Oak Hill cemetery to see Mother. I almost didn't upload this picture... almost too sad for viewing, but poignant. Dad is 89.

Yea....Flowers

2010-06-25T13:36:00.004-06:00

In my little red wagon.. awaiting attention

Lots of flowers are anxious to find their new home...
I love petunias... they're so hardy and colorful

The Front Door

2010-06-25T13:30:00.001-06:00

I just planted and placed these flowers...they will blossom out huge... they do every year.

The Champlin Creek & the Canoe

2010-06-24T23:38:00.003-06:00

Yes... for my birthday, Brad rummaged through his farmer's workshed and found the perfect gift! It's the original cattle-branding iron used by Henry, Irvin and Jay. It had a prominent place (out of place?) in my elegant home...

Brad shows Dayton the new 2800 walnut trees they planted on the 30 acre Kansas Ave. orchard... they're looking at the grafting he did and seeing if it took.

Emily and Rebecca take the canoe out after their ride down the Champlin Slough

Emily, Rebecca & Grandpa

2010-06-24T23:34:00.002-06:00

Grandpa always feel good when he has these two beauties with him (who wouldn't?) Dayton's girls.

BYU's Coach LaVell Edwards and my son

2010-06-19T20:58:00.002-06:00

This is the coolest picture.... years ago (obviously) I took Christian to a BYU game.. now everyone knows that the famous and crusty ole Coach Edwards never smiles (I mean, have you ever seen him smile?) He was coming out of the locker room after the game, so I told Christian to run up and stand right near him, and I'll try to sneak a picture... and just then, he saw what was happening, and he put his hand on the little guy's head and SMILED. What a champ! They should name a stadium after him.

Now he's older and has gone to the dark side.. I mean blonde side..

Steve and Melissa in NYC for the weekend

I love these people.. all so good and faithful, and kind and fun and funny and talented. How fun for Melissa to have sisters finally! This is her father-in-law, Doug Fowler at the end... and assorted brothers and sisters-in-law. But I keep thinking, how lucky they are to have Melissa join the gang.

They do enjoy a good (re: expensive ) meal.

More pics Minnesota Tornado

2010-06-19T20:51:00.002-06:00

The Tornado

2010-06-19T20:44:00.002-06:00

This is one of the least damaged houses hit by the tornado that took out 5 houses only ONE BLOCK away from my daughter's home in Rochester, Minnesota yesterday.... she called to say they hid in the basement, and when they emerged... Oh what devastation! She put the kids at the babysitter's and spent the next day helping with neighborhood clean up.

The Help

2010-06-19T19:47:00.005-06:00

What a great book... set in 1963...it's about the black women who are the hired help for the society women in Jackson, Mississippi... there are SO MANY levels...and boundaries to discover. I highly recommend it... and especially... read the section on page 311 .....there are so many constraints that the woman and society put between each other....and I love the 'colored' dialect... the white-trashy Miss Celia is my fav character. I plan to open my first day of school in my literature classes with this page (311) and solicit discussion. Make this your summer read.

Trip to California

2010-06-17T10:09:00.005-06:00

A beautiful sunset over the mountains near Wells, Nevada.

Here at the Salt Flats, and 80 mile stretch in the west desert of Utah.. I stopped for a few great shots

Here I am (in the car, can't you see me?) backing out of my driveway in Ogden, Utah.. the back is filled with goodies, treats, and lots of meals I've cooked for my dad in California, in an ice chest ... now that school's out, I want to spend some time with him. My trip has begun.

Macy the Dancing Queen

2010-06-17T09:54:00.001-06:00

Beyonce... move over

My Vacation to Minnesota

2010-06-07T12:19:00.003-06:00

Tough guy

The Cash man.. tough guy .. wearing the shark shirt I bought him..but here he looks like Spikey, my cockateil.

No toughness here.. just 3 sweet girls.... ready for church